


Just One Prolonged Indescribable Feeling

by ashilrak, lol-phan-af (lol_phan_af)



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Asexual Character, Multi, Nonbinary Character, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, peep that collab tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-03
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-08-28 19:10:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8459608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashilrak/pseuds/ashilrak, https://archiveofourown.org/users/lol_phan_af/pseuds/lol-phan-af
Summary: “It didn’t take him very much time to realize that having more than one soulmark wasn’t exactly the most normal thing, but he liked it - it made him the good kind of special. The three names were there for him through thick and thin. His mother died, and the names didn’t leave him. The hurricane came, and he was able to trace the names as the storm raged on.”





	

Alex had grown up as so many other boys did, listening to his mama’s stories, and tracing his soulmarks; always asking endless questions. He was a curious child, and his mama had always laughed at him, and told him that he’d find all the answers he sought in time.

It didn’t take him very much time to realize that having more than one soulmark wasn’t exactly the most normal thing, but he liked it - it made him the good kind of special. The three names were there for him through thick and thin. His mother died, and the names didn’t leave him. The hurricane came, and he was able to trace the names as the storm raged on.

Alexander was older now, and those times were far behind him, but the names were not. He still had them, just as he always would. He eagerly awaited the day he met his John, his Hercules, and his Lafayette - whoever they might be.

He’d feel butterflies rise in his chest every time he’d hear someone introduce themselves as John, and that didn’t stop when he realized just how common that name was. If anything, it only made it worse. _His_ John was out there somewhere, could be absolutely anywhere, and Alex just had to find him.

With John being such a common name, Alex had experienced his own fair share of mishaps. There was a time when he thought he had found his John, and he was quite fond of him until he found out that he didn’t have any soulmarks at all. Alex liked him, could have even loved him, but wasn’t comfortable with the fact that his soulmates were still out there and he wasn’t even looking.

They broke up, and Alex still wondered what happened to him now. He moved on, continued looking for John, Hercules, and Lafayette, and refused to rest until he found them.

Meeting his John for the first time was like having a piece of his soul he didn’t know was missing returned to him. Alex knew as soon he laid eyes on him that something was different about him. He introduced himself as John and Alex almost screamed, his own name tumbling out of his mouth as a response before he could prevent it from happening.

“Alexander?” John, _his_ John, asked, and his hand subconsciously came up to run along his forearm.

“Alexander,” he said again, nodding, his smile became so wide that his cheeks hurt.

“I used to imagine you when I was younger, but I never thought you’d look this-”

“Tired?”

“Beautiful.”

Alex grinned even wider. If someone called him beautiful even though he hadn’t slept in two days, then they must be his soulmate.

He still couldn’t believe it even as John sat down across from him in the coffee shop they walked to together. He had dreamed about this moment, designed every possible scenario he could think of, and still hadn’t come up with this. He finally found one of his soulmates, and every time he thought about it, his heart sped up a little bit quicker.

John stared at him from across the table as Alex drank his coffee, barely touching the cup sitting in front of him.

“What?” Alex questioned, setting his cup down.

“You drink your coffee black,” John responded, eyebrows furrowed to show his disapproval.

“It’s how I manage to stay awake,” he told him, shrugging and sitting back in his chair.

“Right. So how long have you been managing?”

“A while.”

“Right,” John repeated slower this time, nodding.

The two of them spent hours in that coffee shop talking.

It felt as if they had known each other for their entire lives. Alex had read countless books and had heard stories about how a soulmate was your missing piece, but he hadn’t ever fully believed them. He supposed not many people did, but it had proven to be true.

They exchanged numbers as they left, and Alex had barely walked five feet before he saw his phone screen light up.

He felt ridiculous smiling at this phone the entire walk back to his apartment.

Aaron looked at him weird from where he was sitting on the couch when Alex walked in.

“Alex, what’s wrong with you?”

Alex went through with his routine as if Burr had said nothing out of the ordinary, “Nothing’s wrong, Burr, why would anything be wrong?”

“You’re… happy.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being happy, Burr, just because that emotion is apparently foreign to you.”

Alex walked into the kitchenette, and started to make a new pot of coffee.

“Alex, every single day, you literally walk in and start to complain about something, anything. It doesn’t even have to be significant. You once ranted for a solid hour about how one of the people in your group kept putting his feet on the table, and how his disrespect for furniture represented his disrespect towards people he considered lower class.”

“Okay, I see your point, but also, Jefferson is literally the devil’s spawn, and not someone I want to think about right now.”

Aaron had made his way from the couch, and was now leaning against the counter, “So, what’s wrong?”

“Absolutely nothing is wrong! I met my soulmate, if you must know.”

Aaron raised one of his perfectly shaped brows, and simply stared in Alex’s direction for a moment before saying, “Which one?”

“What do you mean which one?”

“You have three.”

Alex smiled, “John, I met John.”

“John.”

“Yes.”

Alex set his bag on the counter, and opened his laptop, but was distracted by his phone. It was John, and he found the good mood that Aaron had almost gotten rid of return. The two of them got along just fine, really, but apparently today something had crawled up Aaron’s ass, because his tone was particularly insistent when he said, “Alex, is this John _your_ John? You’ve tried this before - it didn’t work.”

“Andre was a mistake, and we both know that, and I’d prefer it if you didn’t bring him up, thank you very much. And it _has_ to be the right John! He called me Alexander! Besides, there was that whole ‘world is falling into place’ moment and it was amazing, and there is no one else out there who could as perfect for me as John is.”

Burr’s face was sporting an expression Alex was much more familiar with, exasperation, “Alex, you met him today. And even if this _is_ your John, you still have two others to meet.”

“What are you trying to get at, Burr?”

His computer was taking a ridiculous time to load, and was not providing the distraction he so desperately wanted while waiting between John’s texts.

“I’m trying to point out that both John and Alexander are common names. There are assuredly multiple soulmate pairs named John and Alex. You might find yourself hating him, and it was only that made up sense of belonging that convinced you it was love at first site. Besides, you said he called you Alexander. If he really is _your_ John, shouldn’t he also have three soulmarks? How’d he know it was you?”

“I told him my name, because you introduce yourself when you meet a new person. Not all of us can pull off the whole mysterious act, why are you so pessimistic about this anyway?”

The coffee wasn’t done yet, but Alex grabbed his computer and phone, and went to his room. Aaron had a point, though not necessarily the one he thought he did. Alex knew that John was _his_ , but the question remained if Hercules and Lafayette were his, or theirs.

It was with only a moment of hesitation that Alex called John. If he didn’t do it now, it would just continue to bother him.

John sounded surprised when he answered, “Hey.”

Alex fisted his free hand in the fabric of his comforter, “Hi. John. This is Alex. Umm, this is weird, but I have to know, It’s really, really important that I know. So, I came home and my roommate, Aaron, started to ask me all these sorts of questions. You know, because I was happy instead of pissed off at the entire world, as is my usual state of being. I claim to be motivated by spite, and it’s true, so like, not being spiteful is really strange for me. Anyway, I told him I met you, because you’re really important and I was really happy about it.”

He took in a deep breath, but before he could continue John interrupted, “Alex, slow down.”

“Right. Well, he started to ask me if you were really _my_ John, not that you’re an object that can belong to anyone, but you know what I mean. And of course, I was like, Yes! John is absolutely my John! But then he started to make all these logical points, and I’d really hate it if Aaron was right, and I don’t think he is, but I have to know. Are you really _my_ John?”

“Only if you’re really _my_ Alexander.”

“That’s cute. But how would we even know? We don’t! There’s no way! We just met! What if because we both thought we found our soulmate, we started to believe it! The whole mind over matter type of logic, just applied in a really weird way. Except, there is a way to know for sure! Because Alex and John are both really common names, but Hercules and Lafayette aren’t.”

John was silent except for an audible intake of breath, and Alex bit down on his lip to prevent any more nonsense from tumbling out of his mouth.

“You’re right.”

“I usually am, but how?”

“Hercules and Lafayette aren’t common names.”

“But you have heard them, right? They’re yours? Please tell me that they are.”

“Well, this is the first time I’ve heard anyone other than myself say Lafayette, I’ll admit. But yes, though I suppose they’re _ours_ , and not just mine anymore.”

“They’re ours.”

And Alex was smiling so wide his cheeks were hurting.

After the call ended, Alex walked into the living room, where Burr was still sitting on the couch with his computer in his lap and said, “I was right, and you were wrong, as per usual.”

That marked the first day of what became the best part of Alex’s life.

He wasn’t able to see John in-person everyday, and that was fine. They were constantly texting, and every night Alex would get a call just as John was going to sleep.

Their first kiss was as cliche as could be. They were walking around in a park, because John loved walking among the trees - saying it was as close to being with nature he could get without having to drive for hours. John would point out the different trees and plants, and Alex would simply smile and laugh along, for there was little as beautiful as seeing John Laurens excited about something.

John had stopped in the middle of the path, and Alex bumped into him, and wrapped his arms around him, and rested his chin on John’s shoulder - simply relishing the moment. There wasn’t anyone around them, and it was beyond peaceful. This was everything he had wanted. Alex had never been one to relax, but with John, he found himself wanting to.

They stood in silence, staring at nothing while the snow fell around them. When John turned around in his arms so that they were facing each other, Alex was blown away by just how beautiful John looked in that moment. He was smiling, and his hair was curling out from under his hat, and the snowflakes had settled on his eyelashes just so.

Alex leaned, and first kissed John’s cheek, before placing a kiss on John’s waiting lips.

It was perfect - everything he could have wanted and more.

They finished the rest of their walk laughing, hand in hand. They got hot chocolate at a nearby coffee shop, and Alex took a picture of John with whipped cream on his nose, and promptly made it the background on his phone.

Alex knew better than to expect everything in his to continue being so wonderful, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t surprised when John invited him over for dinner with a peculiar tone to his voice - a tone that didn’t promise happy things.

He had thought everything was going perfectly, they were soulmates. John was made for him, just as he was made for John. Alex knew that problems could still come up, he just had to figure out what it was.

He spent the rest of the day agonizing over every single thing that had happened between their first meeting at the coffee shop and now - every moment had seemed so happy.

To say he was surprised when John opened the door and promptly pressed his face into Alex’s chest would be an understatement. This certainly wasn’t the attitude expected before a break up, and Alex was simultaneously calmed and more worried by that realization.

They made their way to the couch, and John arranged himself in Alex’s lap, but still said nothing. He silenced all the thoughts running through his mind, and simple held John close. Whatever it was that John was struggling through right now, he wanted Alex there with him, and he was willing to support John however he needed.

Almost an hour passed before John pulled away, and Alex calmly met his gaze, but still said nothing.

Finally, John began to speak, “I’m sorry about this.”

“Don’t be sorry about it - there’s nothing to be sorry about. Just tell me what’s wrong, and how I can help. If all you need is this, I can do that. If you need a distraction, I shall try my best. If you need me to fight someone, trust me when I say I am more than ready to have you as an excuse.”

John chuckled, something Alex considered that a small victory, and said, “No, you don’t need to fight anyone for me. But I’d totally be there with you, I can defend my own honor, thank you very much.”

“Of course you can.”

Alex pressed a kiss to the top of John’s head, and held him tight.

“I’m scared, Alex.”

“Why?”

“I’m scared you won’t want me anymore.”

Alex held him tighter, “John, my dear, there will never be a day I do not want you. I waited years to meet you, and now that I have you, I am never letting you go. You could tell me you’re a mass murdered, and chances are I’d probably still support you. I would readily move anywhere in the world as long as I’d have you by my side.”

“You don’t meant that.”

“I promise you that I do, my dear John.”

John took in a shuddering breath, and then curled into Alex’s chest once more, “Alex, we’ve been together months now.”

“Some of the best months of my life, I promise.”

John’s voice was muffled, but his words were still distinguishable, “We haven’t found Lafayette or Hercules yet.”

“These things take time. We will find them when we are meant to, we simply must continue living our lives. As long as we don’t hole ourselves up and away from society, they’ll find their way to us.”

“That might take years.”

“But we’ll still have each other.”

“But you’re not going to want me for that long.”

Alex shook his head, and placed another kiss on top of John’s hair, “Yes, I will.”

The sound that left John couldn’t be described as anything other than a sob. “Alex, I’m not going to have sex with you.”

Alex calmed slightly, having finally gotten to what was really bothering John.

“Babe, I don’t care. Besides, you’ve literally been wearing a pride bracelet every time I’ve seen you, I’ve known.”

John nearly fell off of Alex’s lap with the speed and force he leaned back. He looked completely bewildered, and had Alex not known that this was something that was seriously bothering him, he would have called John adorable.

“What do you mean you’ve known? You haven’t said anything? Or done anything?”

“What would I have said or done differently?”

“I’ve been freaking out this past like month and a half! Aaron kept making all these comments about how you used to be known as the tomcat or something, and every time we’ve been alone part of me has been worried you’d take the opportunity to move to the next stage! And that was all for nothing! What the hell, Alex?”

Whenever Alex kissed John on the nose, he’d go a bit cross-eyed - not matter what he was doing in that moment. So that was exactly what Alex did - both to break the tension, and give him a moment to think of what to say.

“I’ll admit that I was a bit, adventurous, in years past. But, I don’t need to have sex with you to be in love with you, which I am. I don’t like that this has been bothering you this much. I know that everyone is different, so I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. I could spend the rest of my life with you John Laurens, just as we are right now.”

“Do you mean that?”

Alex smiled, “Every word.”

John didn’t say anything in response, but rather leaned up and connected their lips.

Sometimes John couldn’t believe he met Alex. He never thought in his life that there would be someone in the world that cared this much, that would love him no matter what happened. He understood that soulmates were supposed to be like that, accepting of all faults because they were made for each other, but he still thought that he and Alex had something special.

John wondered if falling in love with Hercules and Lafayette would be like this, if it will feel as perfect as loving Alex was. He mused this to Alex late one night when they were lying in his bed together, reveling in the way Alex’s hands played with his hair.

“Do you think they’re going to be as perfect for us as we are for each other?” John questioned, and Alex smiled at the words.  
  
“I mean, probably, they are our soulmates.”

“I know they are but what if we meet them and something is wrong? What if they don’t have the same soulmarks we do? What if they’re already seeing people? What if they meet us and, even though we’re soulmates, they decide that they don’t want to be in a relationship with us?” John rambled, each question that came out of his mouth made him more and more worried.

“John,” Alex whispered, pulled John closer to him and kissed his temple.

“Sorry, I’m being unreasonable, I know.”

“You’re allowed to be worried! Our soulmates are out there somewhere, and they’re going to love us no matter what. I promise you.”

John took a deep breath. He leaned into Alex and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down.

He didn’t know where Hercules and Lafayette were, but he was going to find them. Whatever happens after that, whether it be good or bad, is out of his control, but he hopes it turns out well.

The cold weather of winter was passing them, the warm air of spring sweeping over the city as slow as it could. John could drag Alex to parks more often now and take pictures of him while his hair gently blew in the wind, a smile on his face almost as bright as the afternoon sun that shone over them.

The park was empty now aside from John, Alex dashing off to go to class and telling him that every moment they spent apart was torture. John rolled his eyes and waved him off but still ran his fingers along Alexander’s name on his skin with revere.

He sat in the park, admiring all of the scenery around him when a person stepped into his peripheral vision. John looked to him, heart almost stopping when he does.

It was the same feeling when he met Alex, but no words had been spoken between them. John had never even seen this man before, but once he did, it was hard to look away. He was taller than both John and Alex by a considerable amount. The tough exterior he could have judging by his muscles was cancelled out by the soft sweater he was wearing, sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

The man sat a short distance away, but close enough that John could still stare at him and not get caught. This man could be his second soulmate, more likely than not, and John wanted to fall in love with him so much that it is beyond what words would allow him to explain.

His possible soulmate didn’t do anything, just sat there on that bench and look around, at cars that pass on the roads that surround the park, at the way the branches sway with the wind. What if he’s waiting for someone else?

The old worries came flooding back to him, of this not working, of John’s soulmates not loving him, of them loving someone else and wanting to be with them instead of him. They were irrational, almost pathetic, but John didn’t care. They were real to him, terrifying in all prospects. John had wanted to find his soulmates his entire life, and the mere thought of them brushing him off as if he was nothing to them broke his heart.

The man could be waiting for his other soulmate, John realized. He pondered this and didn’t find it that odd of a possibility, hoped that maybe it could be true and he could meet his two other soulmates in one day. He’d meet them and then introduce them to Alex and would never have to worry about never finding them because he already had.

John watched for someone - anyone - but nobody else came. The man kept looking, his eyes falling on John, and his heart almost stopped. He felt it too, the feeling of something falling into place, of something finally being right after so long. John smiled at him and it wasn’t until the man stood up that John realized he wasn’t ready for this conversation.

“This may sound weird, but did you feel that?” The man asked when he got to John. He was breathing quickly, chest heaving slightly. John understood feeling that for the first time, the breathless way it took you and how it felt like dying and being born again all at once.

“I did.”

“So does that mean that we’re…?”

“I mean, that depends. I’m John.”

The man’s breath caught in his throat, “Hercules.”

John smiled, stood up and held out his hand for Hercules to shake. Hercules took John’s much smaller hand in his and shook it, tears welled up in his eyes.

“Are you okay?” John questioned, smile faltering to express his worry.

“I waited all my life to find you, and you’re right here in front of me,” he explained, brushing his thumb across John’s knuckles and John grinned again.

They sat down on the park bench John had been on. Both of them wanted to get to know each other as much as they could, having just found each other and never wanting to leave each other’s company until they absolutely had to.

The way Hercules spoke made John’s heart swell with affection and he had to fight off the urge to kiss him more than once. They talked about different things, but in the back of his mind a question lingered, and it ate away at him until he accidentally blurted it out mid-conversation.

“Am I your only soulmate?” John gasped after he asks it, holding his breath in fear of the answer he’ll receive.

Hercules stopped mid-sentence. He blinked at John for a moment, eyebrows raised.

“No.”

John sighed, hand coming up to cover his heart, “Okay, good. What are your other soulmates’ names?”

“Alexander and Lafayette,” Hercules replied automatically, a worried look coloring his face. John really wants to kiss him. John sighed again, his breathing returned to normal after.

“Me too.”

“You too?”

“Those are the names of my other soulmates too.”

Hercules beamed at him, grabbed his hands again and pulled him up again. He hugged him, arms wrapped around his shoulders. John hugged him back, arms around Hercules’ waist and squeezing.

The first time John mentioned Alex, Hercules almost chokes.

“Alex? Like, our Alex? You found him?”

“He’s my boyfriend. I guess you are now too, as long as you want to be. It’s fine if you don’t want to, though. I understand that us being soulmates doesn’t mean that we have to fall in love with each other, but I had kind of hoped because you’re gorgeous and sweet and would totally fall in love with Alex too if you met him.”

“I was just surprised you found him! You haven’t mentioned him yet and I was confused! What’s he like?”

John knew Hercules wasn’t ready for this conversation, because once John starts talking about Alex he never wants to stop, but he does it anyway because they’re soulmates and this is what fate signed Hercules up for, and John doubted he was going to step away now.

“He’s insanely intelligent, to the point where I can’t even describe how brilliant he is. He’s an amazing speaker, both to crowds and to me personally as his boyfriend. He’s one of the best people I have ever met, and I don’t think it’s just because he’s my soulmate. There are plenty of other reasons why I love him and why he’s so great, but I’m going to let you figure those out for yourself.”

“I can’t wait.”

John ended up going through his phone just to show pictures of Alex to Hercules, told stories behind each one.

“This is our soulmate?”

John nodded at him as he showed him the picture from earlier, and Hercules looked like he was in tears again, “This is the best day of my life.”

Alex texted John when he got out of class, and John immediately responded with a barrage of text messages about how he found Hercules and how pretty he was and how he couldn’t wait for Alex to meet him. He wasn’t sure how Alex felt when he hadn’t gotten a response, but soon enough Alex replied, an all caps message that encapsulated everything John had been feeling.

John went to meet Alex and took Hercules with him, pulled him along by the arm until he saw Alex running towards him.

“John!” Alex called. He stopped in front of John, eyes wide as he stared at Hercules behind him.

“Alex, this is Hercules,” John said. He didn’t let go of Hercules’ hand.

“Hello, Hercules,” Alex greeted.

“Hi, Alex.”

They went back to Alex’s apartment, brushed off Burr’s quizzical look with an explanation of “Hercules,” and waited until he left them alone in their living room. The three of them talked to each other until the early hours of the morning, got to know each other and fell in love even though it might have been too soon to tell.

They stumbled to Alex’s bed, collapsed, fully clothed, onto the mattress and fell asleep next to each other.

John had found two of his three soulmates, and he couldn’t be happier.

They fell in love with each other more and more as each day went on. Hercules seamlessly fell into the existing relationship, and the three of them continued as soulmates.

The longer they went on the more they came together. They went from living three different lives to one single existence, and it almost seemed too good to be true.

After months of being together, they still hadn’t found their fourth soulmate, and the mystery of who they were remained a constant weight on their minds.

They didn’t let that prevent them from finding happiness. They all struggled to find a balance between their classes and the rest of their lives.

It had been an easy decision to move in together. Aaron had been planning on moving in with the TA he was dating, and Alex couldn’t afford the rent on his own. The apartment that John’s dad paid for had more than enough room, and where Alex and John went, Hercules followed.

They tried the separate bedrooms thing, but had found themselves piled around each other every night, and so the spare rooms were quickly converted into a closet/storage room and one that functioned as both a study for Alex, and a workshop of sorts for Hercules.

Thanksgiving was the first time they really fought. Everyone got in fights, and with people as hotheaded as Alex and John, it was really only a matter of time.

John was going home for the holiday, and Alex was going with Hercules to have dinner with the Mulligans. The conflict came in the form of John’s father, who didn’t know that John had met either Alex or Hercules, and John had every intention of keeping it that way.

Alex didn’t agree, and he had no problem making his feelings on the matter known.

“I am not some dirty little secret, Jonathan, and you can’t treat me like one! This man is your father, and he’s not just going to leave your life anytime soon. I understood it last year - after all, we had just met. But it’s been long enough, John! Why are you so insistent on hiding us? Are you ashamed of your poor soulmates? Are we not good enough for you father? Not good enough for you?”

Alex was a confident man, in most cases. He had to be - it was his own intelligence and skill that got him to where he was now. But, if there was one thing he couldn’t quite believe, it was the idea of being good enough for his soulmates.

It was times like these Alex was thankful for Hercules, for the man pulled him tight to his chest, and rested his chin on Alex’s head, providing a sense of calm. Without him, Alex was sure he would have continued to go off, and would have no doubt made some terrible comment, opening old wounds John long thought healed.

Alex knew about John’s issues with his father, and he knew why John had to do the things he did. But he still hated every bit of it.

Hercules was the one they relied on in these situations, and with the arm not holding Alex to his chest, he reached over until his hand was surrounding John’s wrist. John had always taken particular comfort in physical contact.

“John, come here.”

Hercules could feel Alex taking deep breaths, as if preparing to say something, but every time, he remained silent. The three of them simply stood there, taking comfort in the others’ presence.

John broke the silence, “I’m sorry, Alex, you know I love you, and Hercules too - I could never be ashamed of you. It’s just, you know my dad. He conveniently forgets about my soulmarks, and always tries to set me up with his friends’ daughters. I hate every second of it, but I’m going to wait to fight that particular battle until I’m solidly on my own two feet.”

Hercules knew the issue would never be completely settled until the day John finally said fuck you to his father, but for now everything was okay. For now they could cuddle on the couch while a movie played that no one paid attention to.

They sent John off together at the airport, smothering him is kisses as they walked him towards security.

The two went directly from the airport to Hercules’ parents home, where they were welcomed with open arms. They kept their thanksgiving pretty small, but Hercules looked forward to it every year. There was something special about coming home and being greeted with smiling faces and the smell of a turkey in the oven.

His mother would always be the one to open the door, and smother him with all the strength in her body, and this year Alex was given the same treatment. Hercules took special care to not to say anything when he saw that Alex’s eyes were particularly shiny after his mom pulled away.

The two were pulled into the kitchen, and were soon helping Hugh shuck corn.

It lasted an entire hour before their phones started lighting up with texts from John, and Hercules knew that the only reason they hadn’t gotten yelled at to put them away was because it was John. His mom made a comment or two about not having yet met his second soulmate, but he knew she meant is affectionately.

Dinner was fantastic, and Alex survived his father’s questioning.

Hercules had to half-carry Alex up the stairs, as Hugh had found it hilarious when he realized that the more Alex drank, the faster he spoke, until you couldn’t even tell if he was speaking English. Of course, that phase only lasted for about three drinks, as after that he started to get quiet and clingy, which was what Hercules was currently dealing with.

Alex was lucky he was so cute.

He was much less cute a couple of hours later when Hercules woke him up for the sales that Alex insisted they couldn’t miss. Hercules couldn’t stand black friday shopping, but Alex had said that his presence was necessary to protect his small frame and fragile mind from the caffeinated capitalists that preyed on the less fortunate.

Hercules knew he was bullshit, but he had kissed the pout on Alex’s lips and agreed anyways.

Hours later, with hands full of shopping bags and body struggling to fight his remaining food coma with the truly ridiculous amount of caffeine he had forced into it, Hercules was suddenly overjoyed with the decision.

They were currently standing in some high-end department store, on the hunt for what Alex considered to be the only candle worthy of being placed in front of Angelica, and standing before them was someone Hercules struggled to describe as anything other than a deity walking the earth.

It may have been the exhaustion kicking in, with just the right combination of Alex’s excess energy, but Hercules could have sworn that there was an actual golden glow surrounding the being who had deemed it necessary to wear six-inch stilettos on a day that promised nothing but walking and standing for hours at a time.

Alex must have seen them too, because Hercules soon felt a hand pushing at his chest in order to grab his attention. He wishes his hands weren’t full so he might have been able to snap a picture of the expression on Alex’s face to send to John, because he looked positively enchanted.

“Hercules, Hercules, Herc, Herc, Herc, - I have that feeling. You know, the one, the soulmate feeling. What if that’s, what if that’s Lafayette?”

Hercules felt it too, but he wasn’t sure he was willing to rely on that feeling alone, “Alex, babe, I love you, and we can both see that whoever that person is, whether or not they’re our Lafayette, is completely gorgeous. They probably have people pulling soulmate lines on them all the time. Today’s a busy day, we don’t want to annoy them. Besides, if it is indeed our Lafayette, we’ll meet them again.”

Alex’s eyes narrowed, and Hercules let out a fond sigh, knowing that whatever Alex decided to do next, he’d ultimately have no power over.

He expected to be dragged towards the counter that their possible Lafayette was leaning over, but instead Alex just yelled over the crowd, “Lafayette!”

Hercules stared, open mouthed, at the way their possible Lafayette stood up straighter at the sound of their name, turning in the direction of whoever called it. He could hear as Alex gulped next to him when their eyes fell on the two of them as they stood in the center of the commotion.

“It’s them,” Alex whispered. Hercules nodded, watched as their Lafayette stared at them, frozen.

The first two times Hercules felt like that, it was one after the other, so close together that it seemed to be just one prolonged indescribable feeling. He didn’t have time to differentiate the two experiences, though he didn’t mind, because he had found his soulmates and there had been too many other things to focus on.

It was different this time because it was like the final piece of their puzzle being fitted, all of it coming together to form one beautiful picture that Hercules was a part of.

Their Lafayette walked over to them, stumbling slightly in their heels.

“Did you call my name for something?” They asked. Hercules almost screamed, even their voice was gorgeous.

“Yeah, we, we’re your soulmates,” Alex responded, continuing to stand completely still as if petrified.

Lafayette’s shoulders relaxed..  
  
“How do you know?” They questioned, eyes squinted. Hercules knew the obvious answer, because he’s had their name scrawled across his skin for his entire life, but their tone suggested they weren’t looking for that reply.

“Did you not feel that? Like all the air is being sucked out of the room and simultaneously forced into your lungs?”

Alex always had different ways of describing that feeling, metaphors and paragraphs and entire essays worth of words in his mind of how to describe it, some of which he told Hercules and John, others that he kept to himself, but Hercules knows they’re there. This was a new one, and though Hercules couldn’t call it that exactly, he knew what Alex meant.

“What are your names?”  
  
“I’m Alex, he’s Hercules. Our other soulmate, John, isn’t here right now, but we have him.”

“All three of you? I have all of my soulmates?”

Alex nodded, “And now that we found you, we have all of ours.”

The three of them ended up in a nearby almost empty restaurant. Lafayette was sitting across from Alex and Hercules, staring at them like they couldn’t believe that they were real.

“I’ve waited years to find you, and now you’re sitting right in front of me,” Lafayette said.

“Just wait until you meet John, he’s brilliant,” Alex told them. He was half asleep by this point, fatigue having not worn off from before and still coming back full force.

“If he’s our soulmate then I assume he must be.”

“You’re going to love him. That is, if you decide you want to love us.”

Alex’s hand grabbed at Hercules’ underneath the table, searched for the reassurance they both desperately needed.

John was usually the one that worried about these things, of whether or not the four of them would be right for each other. He wanted them to be together, but he also knew that not all soulmates ended up that way, that occasionally some people had found love in others and weren’t willing to give it up just because their name was somewhere on someone else’s body.

John shared these thoughts with them, and whether he had unintentionally instilled those same fears into Alex or if they had been there all along, Hercules wasn’t certain, but Alex did have those moments where he feared for the future of their relationship with their final soulmate.

“Of course I do. Meeting you and loving you and living my life with you is something I’ve been waiting for for my whole life. I’m not passing that up.”

A sleepy smile spread across Alex’s face, hand squeezed lightly on Hercules’, eyes still focused on Lafayette.

Lafayette was their soulmate, and they couldn’t be happier.

Alex wanted it to be a surprise, so when they got home to their apartment Lafayette would be there waiting. John would be shocked, but not for long, and once they were acquainted with each other the four of them could start living the rest of their lives together as one happy relationship.

“He’s going to kill us,” Hercules decided once Alex had explained the plan. Lafayette was sitting on the foot of their bed with him, looking at Alex astonished. They hadn’t gotten used to how Alex spoke yet, with great certainty and usually great speed, but they did not seem to hate it.

“No he won’t! We’re the loves of his life, he would never kill us.”

“The loves of his life who have been hiding our soulmate from him for two days now.”

Alex stopped for a moment, thought about it, and argued, “Maybe when he sees Lafayette he’ll be so shocked and happy that he’ll forget about murdering us?”

“Not likely.”

“I’m willing to take that risk if you are.”

Alex grinned at him in the smug way he did when he won arguments with people. Hercules’ opposition crumbled at his feet, and he gave in, “Fine, let’s surprise John.”

“Yes!” Alex yelled. He kissed Hercules quickly before turning and kissing Lafayette on the cheek.

Every second apart from John felt like an eternity, and meeting Lafayette didn’t change that. Both Hercules and Alex were itching to see him again, and Lafayette understood as they were anxious to meet John for the first time.

“Should I hide somewhere for this?” Lafayette asked, their voice sleep muddled and accent thicker.

John wanted to come home as soon as possible, both because he wanted to see his soulmates again and because he wanted to get away from his father, so he had booked the first flight he could back home. This flight happened to land at four in the morning, and in all of Hercules and Alex’s hushed mumbling about how tired they were, they must’ve woken Laf up.

“You still have a ton of time until he gets home, love, you don’t have to do anything yet,” Hercules whispered, kissing Lafayette on the forehead. Lafayette smiled.

“Love,” they repeated, going back into the room that was now partly theirs if they decided to live with them.

On their way to pick up John, Hercules thought about the four of them.

As a child, he never told people that he had three soulmates. It wasn’t a secret that he was keeping, the subject just never came up. His family knew, and they supported him, so Hercules grew up comfortable in the fact that one day he would find them and that they were probably looking for him too.

Now his search was over, and the three names Hercules used to stare at for hours at a time are people that he had met, had fallen in love with, and was falling in love with. They’re the people he planned to spend the rest of his life with no matter what may happen in that time.

John all but sprinted into their arms, his suitcase he had dragged behind him dropping at their feet

“I missed you,” John muttered into Hercules’ chest.

“We missed you too.”

“It felt like an eternity without you with me.”

Alex laughed, wiped tears from his eyes, “We know the feeling.”

John was almost asleep by the time they got home, hand intertwined loosely with Alex’s as they walked up the stairs to their apartment. Alex had a worried look on his face, concerned if his plan will fall through or not. Hercules went to unlock the door but Alex stopped him.

“John,” Alex spoke gently, grinned when John blinked at him, eyes half open.

“Yeah?”

“We met Lafayette on Friday.”

John’s eyes snapped open, energy renewed.

“You _what?_ And you didn’t tell me?” John almost screamed, aware that it was still early in the morning, that the sun was only just rising by the time they got to their building.

“We wanted it to be a surprise!”

“Why?”

“I don’t know! I thought you would find it endearing.”

John softened for a moment before the shock and confusion came back, “Wait are they in our apartment?”

“Maybe?”

“Alex!”

“Just come inside,” Alex beckoned, waiting as Hercules unlocked to let them in.

They didn’t plan it in specifics, just vague concepts, so when they opened the door to see Lafayette dead asleep on their couch, they couldn’t consider it not part of the plan.

“This is them?” John choked out. He was on the verge of tears, his breath coming out uneven.

“Are you okay?” Hercules asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just a little overwhelmed.” Hercules nodded, saw through the darkness as tears dripped down his cheeks but he made no effort to wipe them away.

John tried to put off sleeping in order to wait for Lafayette to wake up, but exhaustion won out before that could happen. Alex and Hercules dragged him to their bed, and fell asleep with him lying between them, leaving this situation for the next day.

It was early afternoon by the time Hercules woke up to find John gone from their bed. He could hear John and Lafayette’s hushed voices from where they were in the living room, though he couldn’t make out what they were saying. He thought about getting up and going out there, but then he heard John laugh, and Alex rolled to curl into his side so he stayed put.

He must have drifted off, because he awoke to the sound of poorly muffled laughter, and the smell of something delicious filling the air. When Hercules opened his eyes, he saw that Alex was still sleeping, drooling on the shoulder of this t-shirt, and that Lafayette and John were covered with flour and carrying a tray laden with food.

If you had asked Hercules what he had dreamed of happening once he met his soulmates in third grade, he probably would have drawn a terrible attempt at this picture right here.

He shoved Alex awake, and once he opened his eyes, he smiled wide, and Hercules couldn’t resist placing a kiss on the top of his head.

When they looked up, they found John and Lafayette sitting at the foot of the bed, with the tray of food resting on the comforter in front of them. A mug of coffee was quickly handed off from Lafayette to Alex, and once that was settled, Hercules saw that they had apparently made crepes.

“Well, that explains the flour then. Do I even want to see the kitchen?”

Lafayette ducked their head and blushed, and Hercules knew he wasn’t the only one staring.

“Well, you see, our John is terribly clumsy. He woke up before you two, and we were talking, and then he got hungry. Adrienne, a friend from France, had once told me that I had to feed my soulmates her crepe recipe in order to win their love.”

Alex set his now empty cup of coffee on the tray before leaning forward and placing a kiss on Lafayette’s cheek, “You had my love upon first site, my dear Lafayette. You cut through the commercial, and it was like my entire world was made right. You complete me, you complete _us._ ”

Alex had always had a way with words, and Hercules felt his heart melting.

Soon the four found themselves cuddled up against each other, empty tray in front of them, basking in the others’ presence. The smell of crepes had mingled with the smell of coffee, and with his face shoved in Lafayette’s hair, Hercules found that it provided the perfect background to the honey scented shampoo.  
  
The blankets were no doubt all covered with flour, but Hercules couldn’t find it within himself to care, even if he knew he’d be the one doing the laundry.  
  
If doing four times the laundry meant he got to keep all of his soulmates in his life, and feel this sense of comfort all the time, Hercules felt that it was completely worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> omg this was such an adventure, but like, amazing.
> 
> Feel free to come pester us at our tumblrs: lol-phan-af.tumblr.com and ashilrak.tumblr.com  
> <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 thanks for reading!!


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